I Knew I Loved You
by Yukishiro Madoka
Summary: [Oneshot] 'I knew I loved you before I met you...' Their words drifted and were carried away into the wind, but they didn't disappear completely...for those words would lay forever in their hearts. [InuKik]


Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. 

A/N. Heh, I was bored, and when my sister was playing I Knew I Loved You, this idea popped in my head. Lol...I get weird inspirations from the weirdest things. O.o

I don't own **I Knew I Loved You**. **Savage Garden** does.

The words in both **_bold/italic_** is what Inuyasha is thinking at that time. The words in **bold** only is what Kikyo is thinking at that time. x3

Drop a review if you can, yos! x333 Spread the InuKik love! x3333

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Eyes of soft amber and orbs of deep hazel clashed, never leaving the other. They didn't speak. They only stared into each other's eyes. Or maybe it was better this way.

They could read everything just by looking into each other's eyes. Inuyasha smiled, seeing the past flicker through those soft, tender orbs of Kikyo's.

_Maybe it's intuition _

_But some things you just don't question_

He remembered the first time they talked together, sitting in that field nearby her village, side by side.

_"Inuyasha..." Kikyo murmured softly, breaking the long silence, her chocolate eyes growing soft and tender as she turned her head gracefully to look at him. At that moment, she cast the image of his human mother as she looked at him wistfully. "What do you see in me?"_

_"Eh?" he asked crossly, confusion mixed with irritation evident in his voice as he continued to glare at her doubtfully._

_"Do I seem...ordinary to you?" Kikyo questioned quietly._

_"Eh! What are you talking about?"_

_"I can't show any signs of weakness to anybody. I mustn't be indecisive. Because then demons would use it against me." Kikyo smiled bitterly. "That's why...that's why I couldn't kill you. You and I are alike..."_

_Inuyasha quickly turned away from her, trying not to let the chill of the pity and sadness in his heart crawl all over his body. and scoffed. "Keh, quit whining! We all have our crosses to bear!"_

_Kikyo blinked at the vehemence with which he spoke, but did not shoot back an angry reply. She merely remained silently sad, her eyes lowering a bit._

_"You're right..." Kikyo admitted softly, her thin lips slowly curving up into a faint smile directed at Inuyasha, the sadness in her eyes never fading. "I shouldn't complain..."_

_Inuyasha remembered his heart sinking with sympathy and remorse and regret as he stared into those sad orbs of hazel. He didn't fully understand, but he believed that Kikyo was trying to send him a message in her words._

_Her words...they all had a hidden meaning behind them, something mysterious that couldn't be comprehended easily. But he didn't need to understand what she was saying. He could read the message in her eyes._

_Those lonely orbs of soft hazel told him everything. Kikyo was trying to tell him that she and he had a connection - both being trapped between the line of being a human and a non-human...a nobody._

_She was sad, he realized sorrowfully. And she was lonely...like him._

**_"After seeing her sad and lonely expression, I felt guilty...for the first time in my life..."_**

**"We are alike, you and I. We both fight for our humanity, the very thing that isolates us from the world. We are neither human nor what we are meant to be..."**

_Like in your eyes_

_I see my future in an instant_

Inuyasha also remembered that day at the boat...the day they confessed...the day that they agreed to become humans together...the day where they shared their first kiss...

_Kikyo tripped, releasing a soft breath of surprise as she fell onto Inuyasha's chest, her face buried in the soft fabric of his red cloak. As he caught her gently in his arms, still holding the oar awkwardly, a warm feeling rose in his chest as he looked down at her silently._

_Kikyo lifted her head to look at him, and for a moment they were speechless, staring into each other's eyes. What they saw in each other's eyes were beautiful. It was their future - their beautiful future as humans...together._

_Inuyasha dropped his oar beside him, and not hearing the soft thunk as it struck the ground, he wrapped his arms around Kikyo in a tight embrace as she fell into his arms, her arms clinging onto his back._

_"Kikyo..." Inuyasha whispered softly. "Kikyo, I will become human."_

_"Inuyasha..."_

_"It's not a whim or anything," Inuyasha murmured quietly, his eyes gazing down sadly at Kikyo. "I will become human, and you will be an ordinary woman...my...-"_

_"That's all right," Kikyo replied gently, stepping out of his embrace with a reassuring smile on her face. "You don't need to say anymore," she whispered softly._

_"Kikyo...I just want you to know...-" Inuyasha began, but he was cut off as Kikyo leaned over to kiss his cheek and for a split second Inuyasha was too stunned to think. Finally, he slightly turned his head, but it was enough. His lips were now against hers in a gentle kiss. He hugged her again, and she embraced him back._

**_"I will become human, and you will be an ordinary woman...my wife. Kikyo, I just want you to know...that I love you." _**

**"I know, Inuyasha. I love you as well..."**

_And there it goes _

_I think I've found my best friend_

And the night that followed that sunset...was the last night they ever spent together.

_"Inuyasha?" Kikyo whispered quietly, walking silently beside him, her head tilted upwards to gaze at the dark sky and the tiny stars that sparkled magically along with the circular, bright moon._

_"Hm?" Inuyasha responded, his eyes glued to the same beautiful scene that Kikyo's tender eyes were absorbing into their vision. It was beautiful...but it couldn't rival Kikyo's beauty. He glanced over at her and smiled._

_"Is it alright?" Kikyo questioned carefully._

_"What...?" Inuyasha murmured blankly, his eyes never leaving her face._

_"Is it really alright...to be with me like this?" Kikyo inquired softly. Inuyasha smiled to himself. Alright? It was more than alright! It was perfect, the life they had always wanted - being humans together. Why did she have to make everything so complicated? Why couldn't she just accept it, and not ask if he wished for it to happen?_

_"Don't go on about such obvious things," Inuyasha remarked, imitating his former attitude as he crossed his arms over his chest. Yet, it seemed so obvious that he was faking it. Kikyo smiled joyously as she gazed over at him with shimmering eyes of affection._

**_"She looked so happy, smiling like that. I wanted to see her smile like that again for the years to come..."_**

**"I couldn't believe that Inuyasha truly wanted to be with me. This is the first time...I have ever truly felt so happy."**

_I know that it might sound more than _

_A little crazy but I believe_

It was just a single night that would last forever...until the day that the tragedy occured...

_"Tomorrow afternoon...In the western forest in front of the Sacred Tree...Please wait there..." Kikyo instructed gently, closing her eyes as she felt the night breeze softly brush against her face. "I will come bearing the Shikon Jewel."_

_"...Right. I understand."_

_Little did he know that there would be no future for them. Little did he know that Naraku would interfere, Kikyo would die, and he would be sealed away by Kikyo's hand. Little did he know that Kikyo would never be his wife, but his loyal, faithful lover forever._

_But that night was the last time they would be together, and so now...he cherished it...in his memory._

**_"It's hard to believe that tomorrow, we can finally spend our lives as humans...together." _**

**"Soon, we will begin a new life, free of struggling and fighting_...together as humans..."_**

_I knew I loved you before I met you _

_I think I dreamed you into life_

Inuyasha's arms reached out and closed around Kikyo slowly, and like an anchor, drew her closer to him. She didn't say a word; she just remained silent, her hands pressing into his chest as she tilted her head ever so slightly to look up at him.

He believed he dreamed her into life. She must have been dreamt from his mind one day when he was drifting off to slumber years ago. It was amazing how she turned out to look so much like his mother. Kikyo must have been another side of his mother's soul. Even though she was similiar to his mother, and he loved that, she was different...and that was what made her beautiful.

_**"What makes you different makes you beautiful to me..." **_

**"He hasn't changed at all...I'm glad." **

_I knew I loved you before I met you _

_I have been waiting all my life_

"Kikyo..." he murmured, pressing his cheek slightly into her hair. It had been so long since he had held her like this. Inuyasha didn't want to let go for fear that she'd drift away from him again, just like she always did if he ever dared to let go.

So many memories...so many beautiful memories were brought forth as he continued to hold her in his arms...

"...Inuyasha..."

**_"I want to stay like this forever..." _**

**"Hold me in your arms and never let go..."**

_There's just no rhyme or reason_

_Only the sense of completion_

He remembered following her to the stream where she made a daily ritual of bathing in cold water and watching her carefully from a cliff above her every afternoon.

_The waterfall magnificently ran down a steep cliff, collecting pure water to form a long stream. Kikyo knelt beside the stream, clutching a small pitcher she would use in her daily ritual of bathing in cold water._

_She placed the pitcher in the water until it was filled up entirely with water. Then she dumped the water over herself, and repeated the process over and over, a small smile present on her face._

_He watched from the cliff above her, his eyes never leaving her form. She looked so beautiful, even in such a plain, colorless robe. She reminded him so much of his human mother, and for an instant, his mother's smiling image flashed through Kikyo._

_He shrugged off the awed, sorrowful feeling. This woman wasn't his mother...she was just an ordinary priestess who was in his way of getting the Jewel._

_His stance shifted slightly and his amber eyes widened a bit as he noticed that remarkable beauty that radiated off the priestess as the sparkling droplets of water dripped from her soaked robe and hair. But most of all, he noticed the peaceful smile on her face as she closed her eyes softly, a graceful air surrounding her elegant atmosphere._

**_"Why...? Why am I feeling this way?" _**

**"I know he's up there...watching me. And it's really strange...but I feel comfortable around him. Why is that...?"**

_And in your eyes_

_I see the missing pieces_

Their future had been planned out...What went wrong? Why couldn't they be together? Why...?

_"Should we try to stop fighting?" Kikyo suggested softly, looking at him sadly._

_"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked in confusion._

_"If we stop fighting, we can become human..." Kikyo explained slowly, carefully forming her words, as if she were forming the perfect plan within her mind that instant._

_"Me? Become human?" Inuyasha repeated, his head snapping quickly back to her like a rubber band, his eyes filled with interest and confusion at the same time._

_"It's possible," Kikyo responded wisely. "You are a half-demon to begin with. The Shikon Jewel, in the hands of an evil demon, increases their power..." Kikyo paused as her expression grew more thoughtful. "However, if you use it to become human, the Jewel will be purified..."As the words escaped from her delicate lips, Kikyo smiled faintly at Inuyasha, her eyes glistening with hope. "It may even disappear."_

_This terrible bloodshed..._

_It could be stopped if they used the Jewel._

_They could use the Jewel to make them both humans._

_And as humans...they could be together..._

_"So...what happens to you?" Inuyasha inquired with concern. He understood now. Kikyo was not a human in her current state of being a priestess and the guardian of the Shikon Jewel._

_Inuyasha was a half-demon, posessing human blood mixed with human blood. He was trapped between the line that seperated humans and demons. But Kikyo wanted him to turn him into a human...so they could be together._

_Kikyo turned away, but her reason for averting his gaze was not from discomfort or shame. But even looking away from him, Inuyasha knew that the hope in her eyes had not vanished._

_"I protect the Jewel. If the Jewel were to vanish, I would become an ordinary woman..." Kikyo glanced back over at him and smiled. Hope and affection twirled softly in those swirls of hazel._

_He smiled back._

**_"I'm willing to give up everything - my ambitions, my dreams, everything...for her. Anything for her..."_**

**"Let's have a chance to let our hearts beat together..."**

_I'm searching for _

_I think I found my way home_

Inuyasha remembered the happiness he felt when he was reunited with Kikyo that night he saved her from the red soul stealer. Then he recalled how his blood boiled when Kikyo told him that Naraku tried to kill her...and loved her because of his human heart.

_"You're...intending to destroy Naraku by yourself, aren't you?" he shouted at her in disbelief, ignoring the confusion and astonishment on her face. "That's no good!" He looked straight into Kikyo's eyes, which had harden as she stared icily at him._

_"Inuyasha..." Kikyo murmured somewhat coldly. "I am a priestess. By fighting with my spiritual powers, I can completely remove him from this world..."_

_"I'm not talking about that!" Inuyasha hurriedly looked away, hearing his pulse hiss furiously in his ears, feeling the blood within him boil with a hot fury. "That someone like Naraku is in love with you...makes me sick!"_

_Inuyasha's head whipped back to Kikyo and he grabbed her shoulders rather roughly._

_"Kikyo, you said my life was yours. In that case, your life is...mine!"_

_Kikyo's eyes widened with shock as she stared back at him in disbelief. Was it true? Was he the only one who could protect her?_

_Despite herself, she felt weak. Did Inuyasha really think of her like that? A helpless, weak woman who depended on a man to protect her?_

_Since when had she become so weak-willed?_

_She remained silent for a moment before whispering, "Inuyasha..."_

_Apparantly, her hushed voice and her saddened eyes calmed him down. His amber eyes softened with tenderness._

_"Kikyo..." he breathed, gazing back at her softly. He released his firm grip on her shoulders and threw his arms around her small form, hugging her tightly. "There's no way I'll hand you over... to the likes of Naraku!"_

_"Inuyasha..."_

_They remained silent for a long moment, him embracing her softly, her motionless in his cradle. Finally, Inuyasha broke the silence._

_"You know where Naraku lives... where his castle is, don't you?"_

_Remembering that Naraku had actually held Kikyo in his arms and taken her away to his castle made his throat burn up and his blood boil with hatred. Who knows what he did to her? Even if he didn't harm her, he still looked at her, he still heard her voice, he still touched her!_

_Naraku touched Kikyo...his Kikyo._

_"If you knew, then what...?" Kikyo had seemed slightly irritated, as if she didn't like the idea of him protecting her._

_"I'd go in and rip apart Naraku. Then Kikyo...you won't have to fight anymore."_

_" I've already told you, Inuyasha. I am the only one who can purify Naraku and completely remove him from this world."_

_If he had thought she was irritated before, she seemed bitter and mildly angry when she spoke those words. Why couldn't she understand that she needed him?_

_" But... if you're attacked again like just now... Who will protect you? I'm the only one who can protect you, aren't I?"_

_Kikyo's eyes widened for a moment before softening. "Inuyasha...you're saying that from the heart, aren't you?"_

_"I can't take it any longer!" Inuyasha burst out angrily. "I couldn't stand it even if that measly Naraku sees you, or hears your voice..."_

_Inuyasha's amber eyes misted slightly. "To say nothing of how I'd feeling if I lost you again..." he whispered._

_Kikyo looked up at Inuyasha and her eyes shimmered with affection and gratitude. "Fear not Inuyasha," she reassured softly. "I won't suffer something like that again."_

_The way she looked at him, her eyes full of love and sympathy, he realized he had found a home. Fifty years ago, that home had been destroyed. But now he reclaimed it once more. A home...in Kikyo's heart._

That made him happy...knowing Kikyo could find it in her heart to let him in...after all the pain he caused her.

_I know that it might sound more than _

_A little crazy but I believe_

Inuyasha could not help but smile wistfully at the memory.

_"Inuyasha...at that time when the dead souls had been drawn out, and my power was exhausted..." Kikyo looked upwards at the darknening sky, trying to find the words. "I wondered if, alone, it was over for me. But you..."_

_Kikyo turned back and a quiet smile crept along her lips as her eyes glimmered with a soft, elegant sparkle. "...you were there for me, Inuyasha. I was so happy..."_

_Inuyasha couldn't fight back the urge to hold her any longer. "Kikyo!" Inuyasha cried out her name, rushing forward. He grabbed her petite hand and turned her around to hug her again._

_"If anything happens, call for me."_

_If she closed her eyes, he would be there. If she opened her eyes, he would be there. If she turned around, he would be there. If she looked ahead, he would be there. He would always be there, but he would only truly be there to embrace her was when she called his name._

_"Inuyasha..." Kikyo's arms wrapped around his broad figure. She closed her eyes, a look of peace and serenity lingering upon her face. Inuyasha looked down at her melancholy, holding her tightly._

_"It'll be okay, Inuyasha. I won't let any other man than you even touch a hair on my head..."_

_"I'm the only one who can protect you from Naraku...aren't I?" Inuyasha's eyes softened as Kikyo opened her eyes and gazed up at him quietly. Amber eyes and hazel orbs locked, and just by looking into each other's eyes, they could read each other's soul. Their love...would never die...no matter the distance, no matter the time, no matter what happened..._

_Their love would never die._

**_"I'm the only one who can protect you...aren't I?" _**

**"Our destinies...our _lives_ are intertwined..."**

_I knew I loved you before I met you_

_I think I dreamed you into life_

"...I'm sorry..." Inuyasha whispered sadly, unknowingly tightening his grip on her out of self-anger at himself, yet sympathy and sorrow for Kikyo.

"What for?" She seemed surprised.

"Everything..." Inuyasha clarified remorsefully, his warm breath spreading over her bare neck. He didn't need to list them all. He remembered all of the times he caused her pain...It was terrible and heartbreaking to remember.

Why didn't he realize it wasn't Kikyo who attacked him fifty years ago? Those weren't her soft eyes of love; they were Naraku's cold eyes of malice. He should have known, and he did. But he tricked himself out of doubt. It was all because of his stupid pride and his stupid crave for the Jewel.

He was trapped between the line that seperated two futures - one with Kagome, and one with Kikyo. He would always be trapped because he could never choose. But he chose to stay with Kagome during hs quest to acquire the pieces of the Jewel...and he broke Kikyo's heart.

He didn't save her when Naraku struck her down at Mt. Hakurei. He failed to protect her; he went back on his word. He was so stupid! He remembered the remorse, the anger, the sadness, the horror, the grief...

He was always so selfish! He only cared about himself, he scolded himself angrily. All of those times he had hurt her, he chose to save himself.

Fifty years ago, when the betrayal happened, he chose to ignore the doubt in his heart as he looked into those eyes that weren't Kikyo's, and he chose to take the Jewel. He was so selfish.

He knew he had to choose one out of the two women he loved. But he didn't...because he only cared about himself. He didn't want the one he abandoned to hate him for the years to come. He was so selfish.

He didn't protect her like he said he would. He knew that he had to stay with Kagome...and he did. He told himself he had to proect her...but it was more than that, he realized. He didn't want Kagome to get angry at him. So he stayed with her. In doing so, he allowed Kikyo to get hurt. He was so selfish.

His amber eyes lowered to gaze melancholy at her, a sad frown anchoring the corner of his lips downward. "I'm sorry..."

"...It's all right..." Inuyasha smiled with his regretful frown frozen in place as he felt Kikyo's arms embrace him with that silent, beautiful grace only she could hold.

**_"I'll beg forgiveness for the thousand times I've caused you unhappiness, and make reparations by making you smile a thousand times."_**

**"It is easy to forgive you, but it is harder to forgive _myself..._"**

_I knew I loved you before I met you _

_I have been waiting all my life_

"...I'm sorry, too."

"What for?" This time, it was Inuyasha's turn to be surprised.

"...I'm sorry..." Kikyo repeated softly, lowering her hazel eyes sadly. "I've always been such a burden to you...and for that, I'm sorry..."

"No. Don't be sorry," Inuyasha told her firmly, hugging her even tighter.

Kikyo smiled sorrowfully, her eyes glimmering with remorse. "But I've always brought you so much grief and worry. I should be sorry. Aren't you angry at me for being such a burden all the time?"

"No...of course not. You're not a burden..." Kikyo closed her eyes in tranquility, her arms clinging onto his back.

"Inuyasha...then what am I?"

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha's eyes glazed over from confusion and puzzlement as he looked down at her through slightly wide eyes.

"What am I to you?" Kikyo clarified softly, pressing her cheek into his shoulder gently as she smiled sadly. "Am I a long-lost lover? Am I a mere memory? Or...am I nothing to you?"

Unknowingly, as she spoke her last words, her arms tightened around him and her eyes closed tightly, as if she were afraid that he would confirm her last words true.

Inuyasha frowned a bit, glancing down at her solemnly. She seemed so...desperately sad...just like fifty years ago, he realized remorsefully. Kikyo wanted to belong to someone. She wanted...to be wanted.

"You are Kikyo," Inuyasha answered with a melancholy smile. "You are my Kikyo. As you've always been."

**_"Your life is mine, as it has always been. _You _are mine...my Kikyo."_**

**"I'm so happy, Inuyasha, that I still have a special place in your heart after all of these years..."**

_A thousand angels dance around you _

_I am complete now that I found you_

Inuyasha raised his eyes to stare at the soul collectors that surrounded them, gliding like ripples in an ocean as they swarmed soundlessly around the two. Their glowing scales shimmered as they drifted softly, and their ruby eyes seemed to bore right into his soul.

He used to be frightened and nervous around these strange creatures. But now these soul collectors didn't seem creepy or terrifying anymore...because he knew that these were the ones that carried Kikyo's soul. They were the ones who gave Kikyo life - and for that, he was grateful.

They were like angels - sent from the heavens above to give life to the woman he loved. But he realized, these soul collectors weren't the angels.

Kikyo was the angel.

He had been living a life that was neither broken nor whole...just incomplete. Now that he had found Kikyo, his Kikyo, his soul was complete now.

**_"Nothing is whole and nothing is broken. Then...why do I feel that way when I'm with and without you?"_**

**"All I fear means nothing when I'm with you..."**

_I knew I loved you before I met you _

_I think I dreamed you into life_

"Inuyasha...you're saying that from the heart, aren't you?"

Inuyasha smiled, remembering that she had said those exact words when he had claimed her life that night. He pressed her cheek deeper into the blanket of her silky locks.

"Yeah..." he murmured.

Kikyo smiled softly and buried her face deeper into his chest, inhaling his scent of fresh pines. Inuyasha did likewise, burying the lower half of his face in her hair and taking in her scent of sweet and fragrant flowers.

"Kikyo?"

"Hmm...?" Kikyo murmured, her voice slightly muffled as her face was pressed into his chest.

"What am I...?" Inuyasha inquired hesitantly. "What am I to you?"

Kikyo looked up at him and smiled. Instead of thinking and answering after a while, she responded immediately. "You are Inuyasha. You are my Inuyasha...as you've always been."

He smiled back, his heart warming up with intense joy. Those exact words he had spoken were escaping from Kikyo's lips..._to_ him..._for_ him. He couldn't help but feel glad and happy.

"Kikyo..." he murmured tenderly, embracing her softly as he gazed down at her gently.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered back, her arms clinging onto his back as she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek deeper into his chest.

Inuyasha lowered to meet her height, while Kikyo stood on the tips of her toes to reach his. Their lips met softly, reawakening all of those memories that had been remembered, forgotten, but not lost in their hearts.

Their lips parted at the same time to speak the same words. "I knew I loved you before I met you..."

Their words drifted and were carried away into the wind, but they didn't disappear completely...for those words would lay forever in their hearts.

**_"I knew I loved you before I met you..."_**

**"I knew I loved you before I met you..."**

_I knew I loved you before I met you_

_I have been waiting all my life_

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